Mount Robson Memories
Yellowhead Highway V0E 2Z0 Mount Robson, BC, Canada

Geological Origins Mount Robson - Geological Origins: Mount Robson is a peak in the Rainbow Range of the Rocky Mountains in eastern British Columbia. These mountains are raised layers of sedimentary rocks formed on the floors of ancient seas (Royal BC Museum). ... One geology blog describes Robson as a 12,792 foot tall layer cake with limestone and dolomite on the top, shale in the beige coloured middle and quartzite on the bottom. While the layers may seem to be horizontal they are actually part of a huge syncline (fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope upward from the axis). From the base of Mount Robson in the Fraser River Valley to its peak there is a 3,000 metre rise over a distance of only three kilometres it is not far below that of Mount Everest and is unrivaled in the Canadian or U.S. Rocky Mountains (Bill Corbett). Photo by Martina Gebarovska https://www.instagram.com/p/BkTBD3agqaJ/

Happy Family Day! Speaking of families: The Hargreaves brothers (George, Frank, Roy, Jack and Dick) established The Hargreaves Brothers Outfitting Company near Mount Robson in 1921. They are later hired by the CNR to build cabins in the Robson Pass which Roy operated for several years.... Roy sticks around and marries Sophia. They run the Mount Robson Ranch and the Berg Lake Chalet until 1959. One of their daughters, Ishbel Cochrane, later runs the ranch with husband, Murray. What was once the Berg Lake Chalet is now the Hargeaves Shelter where many a weary hiker has rested (including myself!) Photo: The Hargreaves Brothers: Frank, Roy, George, (unknown), Jack, (unknown), 1922-1930, Mount Robson. Credit: Ishbel Cochrane. Valemount & Area Museum

Prior to the fur trade entering the Leather (Yellowhead) Pass, the Simpcw were the first known inhabitants of the Upper Fraser area and are a part of the Shuswap (Secwepemc) people. Their territory extended from north of McLure, BC into Jasper, Alberta and there are archaeological finds throughout this area. They built lodges and fish drying racks near the confluence of the Fraser and McLennan rivers (near present day Tete Jaune, BC). In 1916, in a dark part of B.C.’s histor...y, the Simpcw People were forcibly, and without warning, relocated from their settlement at Tete Jaune to Chu Chua nearly 300 Kilometres away (south of Little Fort, BC). Despite a railway existing along this corridor, the Simpcw were made to walk. Today there are nearly 700 members of the Simpcw First Nation who still live, work and continue their cultural heritage in Chu Chua. For more information visit: https://www.simpcw.com/our-history.htm Simpcw First Nation Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Photo: "Shuswap Indians" at Tête Jaunce Cache 1912. (Photo by F.A. Talbot, from the Simpcw First Nation Archive)

Mount Robson B.C. or Alberta? In the early 1900’s the Robson Glacier (and thus the Mount Robson watershed), created a geographical anomaly by draining toward two separate river systems in two different provinces. Some glacial runoff would flow north into Adolphus Lake (in Alberta) and some would run into Berg Lake (In B.C.). On his second expedition to Mount Robson in 1908, A.P. Coleman, the vice president of the Alpine Club of Canada, measured the Robson Glacier and not...iced this anomaly. As the glacier is near the Continental Divide, one stream of water would, in fact, end up in the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie and Smoky Rivers and the other stream would find its way to the Pacific Ocean through the Robson and Fraser Rivers. Coleman realized that the provincial boundary between British Columbia and Alberta, determined by the location of the watershed, would involve a difficult decision about how much of Robson Glacier and Mount Robson belonged to each of the provinces. The problem resolved itself in a few years when all of the glacial runoff drained toward Berg Lake, at an elevation 38 feet lower than Alberta’s Adolphus Lake. Quotes and photo from Mount Robson: Spiral Road of Art, pg. 35 by Jane Lytton Gooch Mount Robson, Berg Lake Trail Mount Robson Provincial Park Mount Robson Provincial Park and Protected Area Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre

The Name of Mount Robson The Simpcw, a Secwepemc people, were the first known inhabitants of the Upper Fraser area, they were nomadic and a band of the Shuswap people. They built lodges and fish drying racks near the confluence of the Fraser and McLennan rivers. Their name for the mighty peak was Yuh-hai-has-kun, meaning "The Mountain of the Spiraling Road" which referred to the strata-like layers of the mountain that angle upwards to the East. The modern name of Robson wa...s most likely, though not certainly, linked to Colin Robertson, a Scotsman who worked for both the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company. One theory suggested in the book Mount Robson: Spiral Road of Art is that Tete Jaune ( Yellow Head or Pierre Bostonais) named the peak after Mr. Robertson who was his employer at the time in 1819. It is worth noting that the original location of Tete Jaune Cache was near the Grand Fork of the Fraser River where it was met by the Robson River (Milton & Cheadle). The first reference to a name for the mountain is found in the diary of fur trader George McDougall in 1827 he referred to it as Mt. Robinson. Then, in 1863, Milton and Cheadle, who were crossing the Yellowhead Pass, referred to it as Robson (or Robson’s) Peak. It is presumed that the name was carelessly pronounced and gradually evolved from Robertson to Robson. Due to its great vertical mass the westerly winds have a difficult time rising up and over Mt. Robson and therefore the summit is often hidden by clouds. Thus another name for it is "Cloud Cap Mountain". Mount Robson Visitor Centre Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Vintage Valemount - Pioneer Tales and Pictures Valemount Area Recreation Development Association Andru McCracken

https://historynstuff.blogspot.com//the-jasper-blues-lyric

Happy B.C. Day everyone! Here's 10 Fascinating Facts about our great Province! http://historynstuff.blogspot.com/2015/07/with-b.html?m=1

Just want to send a huge shout out to Mount Robson Lodge (https://www.mountrobsonlodge.com/index.html) and the Cinnamon family for their hospitality this past week. As you can see, the views from their cabins cannot be topped! Mount Robson, Berg Lake Trail

Mount Robson: The Story of Kinney & Curley (In honour of Father's Day)... https://historynstuff.blogspot.com//george-kinney-curly-ph Mount Robson, Berg Lake Trail Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Mount Robson Whitewater Rafting Co. Mount Robson Inn Valemount Glacier Destinations Tourism Valemount Valemount Chronicles

Phyllis Munday: The First Woman To Summit Mt. Robson Phyllis Munday ( nee James) was the daughter of a Lipton’s Tea manager and was born in Sri Lanka in 1894. She was also the first woman to reach the peak of Mt. Robson. Her family moved to B.C. in 1901 and she eventually met and married Don Munday in 1920. Together they formed perhaps the most renowned power couple of the mountaineering world. If Don wasn’t smitten with her already, then it surely happened when she resc...ued him from nearly falling into a glacial crevasse while on a climb. While saving him, she lost her own balance and he in turn held on to her. As Don says it lent itself readily to being given a romantic aspect. Then there was the incident in which Phyllis chased a grizzly bear who was chasing Don. A swiss mountain guide once said of Phyllis that she was a strong woman; as strong as any man. Perhaps even stronger. In 1924, on only the third expedition of its kind, Conrad Kain led a group with two women in it to the peak of Mt. Robson. Phyllis was deservedly the first to stand on the peak and in the dialogue of Kathryn Bridge’s book about Phyllis, Conrad clasped her hand in his and said There, Lady! Here is the top of Mount Robson! You are the first woman on this peak the highest of the (Canadian) Rocky Mountains. Phyllis and her husband are also credited with discovering Mt. Waddington of the Coastal Mountains (The highest peak in British Columbia). In their second year of marriage Phyllis gave birth to their daughter, Edith, and at 11 months carried her to the top of Crown Mountain. In 1972 she received The Order of Canada for her pioneering work in the girl guides, St. John’s ambulance and mountaineering in general. She passed away in 1990, a female legend. A lovely woodsy trail, a beautiful lake, an alpine meadow, a ridge and a peak, for all this had been heaven to me while on earth. They are all God’s great gifts to man. Phyllis Munday Photo: Phyllis Munday, Blaeberry Alpine Camp 1957 Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Mount Robson, Berg Lake Trail Mount Robson Provincial Park and Protected Area Tourism Valemount Mount Robson Whitewater Rafting Co.

Mount Robson and Sherlock Holmes. In the year of 1914, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of the famed fictional detective Sherlock Holmes) and his wife visited the town of Jasper. They had reached their destination via the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later the Canadian National Railway) which had just recently been constructed. The Library and Archives of Canada records for us that: A special train was organized to take Conan Doyle, his wife, and friends to visit the area nea...r Mount Robson. (https://thediscoverblog.com//sir-arthur-conan-doyle-tour-/) The visit left a lasting impression on Doyle as can be seen in this poem he wrote of the whole Western Canadian experience: The Athabasca Trail My life is gliding downwards; It speeds swifter to the day When it shoots the last dark canon to the Plains of Far-away, But while its stream is running through the years that are to be, The mighty voice of Canada will ever call to me. I shall hear the roar of rivers where the rapids foam and tear, I shall smell the virgin upland with its balsam-laden air, And shall dream that I am riding down the winding woody vale, With the packer and the packhorse on the Athabasca Trail. I have passed the warden cities at the Eastern water-gate, Where the hero and the martyr laid the corner stone of State, The habitant, coureur-des-bois and hardy voyageur, Where lives a breed more strong at need to venture or endure? I have seen the gorge of Erie where the roaring waters run, I have crossed the Inland Ocean, lying golden in the sun, But the last and best and sweetest is the ride by hill and dale, With the packer and the packhorse on the Athabasca Trail. I'll dream again of fields of grain that stretch from sky to sky, And the little prairie hamlets where the cars go roaring by, Wooden hamlets as I saw them noble cities still to be To girdle stately Canada with gems from sea to sea; Mother of a mighty manhood, Land of glamour and of hope, From the eastward sea-swept Islands to the sunny western slope, Ever more my heart is with you, ever more till life shall fail, I'll be out with pack and packer on the Athabasca Trail. June 18th, 1914 Arthur Conan Doyle. Photo: The Conan Doyle party crossing the Athabasca River by William Topley. Mount Robson Provincial Park and Protected Area Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Mount Robson, Berg Lake Trail Mount Robson Whitewater Rafting Co. Valemount Visitor Information Centre

Geological Origins Mount Robson - Geological Origins: Mount Robson is a peak in the Rainbow Range of the Rocky Mountains in eastern British Columbia. These mountains are raised layers of sedimentary rocks formed on the floors of ancient seas (Royal BC Museum). ... One geology blog describes Robson as a 12,792 foot tall layer cake with limestone and dolomite on the top, shale in the beige coloured middle and quartzite on the bottom. While the layers may seem to be horizontal they are actually part of a huge syncline (fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope upward from the axis). From the base of Mount Robson in the Fraser River Valley to its peak there is a 3,000 metre rise over a distance of only three kilometres it is not far below that of Mount Everest and is unrivaled in the Canadian or U.S. Rocky Mountains (Bill Corbett). Photo by Martina Gebarovska https://www.instagram.com/p/BkTBD3agqaJ/

Today we all know the beautiful mountain lake on the trail to Mount Robson as Kinney Lake. However, there was a time when another name for this lake floated around. In the early days of discovery, just after the turn of the 19th century, the name Helena Lake was also applied to this glacial body of water. Where did the name Helena come from and why did the name Kinney prevail? Let’s take a look https://historynstuff.blogspot.com//kinney-helena-lake-ori

Happy Family Day! Speaking of families: The Hargreaves brothers (George, Frank, Roy, Jack and Dick) established The Hargreaves Brothers Outfitting Company near Mount Robson in 1921. They are later hired by the CNR to build cabins in the Robson Pass which Roy operated for several years.... Roy sticks around and marries Sophia. They run the Mount Robson Ranch and the Berg Lake Chalet until 1959. One of their daughters, Ishbel Cochrane, later runs the ranch with husband, Murray. What was once the Berg Lake Chalet is now the Hargeaves Shelter where many a weary hiker has rested (including myself!) Photo: The Hargreaves Brothers: Frank, Roy, George, (unknown), Jack, (unknown), 1922-1930, Mount Robson. Credit: Ishbel Cochrane. Valemount & Area Museum

Prior to the fur trade entering the Leather (Yellowhead) Pass, the Simpcw were the first known inhabitants of the Upper Fraser area and are a part of the Shuswap (Secwepemc) people. Their territory extended from north of McLure, BC into Jasper, Alberta and there are archaeological finds throughout this area. They built lodges and fish drying racks near the confluence of the Fraser and McLennan rivers (near present day Tete Jaune, BC). In 1916, in a dark part of B.C.’s histor...y, the Simpcw People were forcibly, and without warning, relocated from their settlement at Tete Jaune to Chu Chua nearly 300 Kilometres away (south of Little Fort, BC). Despite a railway existing along this corridor, the Simpcw were made to walk. Today there are nearly 700 members of the Simpcw First Nation who still live, work and continue their cultural heritage in Chu Chua. For more information visit: https://www.simpcw.com/our-history.htm Simpcw First Nation Mount Robson Visitor Information Centre Photo: "Shuswap Indians" at Tête Jaunce Cache 1912. (Photo by F.A. Talbot, from the Simpcw First Nation Archive)

Hi all - After much research, here is Mount Robson: A Historical Timeline. This is a comprehensive list of historical events that have occurred in, on and around Mount Robson - the Monarch of the Canadian Rockies. I hope that this can be a useful tool in the study and appreciation of this beloved peak. If you feel there are any other significant details that could be added please comment below... https://historynstuff.blogspot.com//mount-robson-historic-